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Iraq

Following a coup d’état in 1968, Iraq was ruled by the Sunni-led Ba’ath party until 2003.

In 1979, Saddam Hussein took control. The Ba’ath party crushed any alternative political organisation, with extrajudicial executions, detentions, torture and large-scale disappearances. Assyrian Christians and Kurds were systematically repressed.53 Kurdish and Shiite Muslims who opposed the regime were subjected to particularly harsh oppression.

In 1990, Iraq invaded oil-rich Kuwait, in response to which the United Nations launched a military campaign resulting in the Gulf War. In the same year, the UN also imposed a military, financial and trading boycott on Iraq. The 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussein by the Kurds and the Shiite Muslims in the south was brutally crushed by the Republican Guard, which arrested 150,000 people. Two million people were forced to flee.

In 2003, after an invasion led by American and British forces, the Ba’ath Party was removed from power and Iraq came under a military occupation by a multinational coalition. Sovereignty was transferred to the Iraqi Interim Government in June 2004. A new constitution was then approved by referendum, and a new government was elected. However, sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shi’ites has continued to escalate. Sunni-led insurgencies have staged ongoing attacks on United States-led troops, Iraq’s Shi’ite-dominated government, its security forces, oil installations and civilians. The insurgents include nationalists, former members of the Iraqi military and supporters of Saddam. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have died since the invasion, and the ongoing violence continues to drive many more to flee their homes. The United Nations estimates that over 4 million Iraqis have been displaced by violence in their country; the vast majority of these have fled since 2003.

The most common Arabic greeting is Salam in short of “asalaamu alaikum” means (peace be with you), to which you should respond “wa alaikum salaam” means (and peace be with too); handshake is used between men with eye contact and smile. Women cannot shake hands to men, although they cannot kiss, embrace family member and close friends on the cheek.

The Shia and Sunnis are similar in over 95% of ways. The differences are not as acute as one would think. Essentially the split occurred to the political question of who should succeed the Prophet Muhammad as the leader of the community. Major differences between the two occur in jurisprudence (i.e. how to pray, how to marry, inheritance) and minor elements of faith.

During Saddam’s regime only Sunnis held real power. Now, the Shia majority hold more power.

Iraqis consider family and honor to be of paramount importance. The extended family or tribe is both a political and social force. Families hold their members responsible for their conduct, since any wrongdoing brings shame to the entire family. Loyalty to the family comes before other social relationships, even business.